China was on my radar because a friend of mine had recently moved to Shenzhen to teach for a few years. She had previousely taught overseas in Belgium, Switzerland and Japan, and I had visited her in each of those locations, so this was the next destination. When traveling, it’s always great to get a perspective from someone who actually lives there, not just from a travel brocure, and we wanted to experience that first hand. I wanted to combine my trip to China with a stop in Hong Kong, which worked out well, as Shenzhen is just a short ferry ride away. I was a bit concerned about the travel visa requirements for China, so I picked a flight that arrived and departed from Hong Kong, knowing that if I didn’t get the visa, I could always go somewhere else in Asia and still meet up with my friend in Hong Kong. It was a long process (in 2015) and about $150 for the visa into China, but it finally did come through, so off I went on my 3-week trip.
I had been to Hong Kong many years ago and all I really remembered was that it reminded me of New York City, in that there were lots of tall buildings and it was really crowded with people – day and night. I guess that’s still the same, but it is also so much more. We found a hotel close to the waterfront and close to the train station, so we opted for public transportation where ever we went. The train system in Hong Kong was so easy to use, really clean and very inexpensive, so no need to rent a car. To get a birds-eye view of the city and the harbor, you really need to ride up the historic and steep Victoria Peak Tram. The trip up and back along with the views was a great experience, we even had a pretty good day in terms of views without cloud cover or too much smog. At the top of the tram in addition to the sweeping views, there are many restaurants and shops. At the base of the tram is the Zoological and Botanical Gardens – a great addition before or after your tram ride.
Another amazing attraction to see while in Hong Kong is Tian Tan Buddha on Ngong Ping, Lantau Island. We took a train from downtown to that area, pretty easily and then walked a few minutes to the base of the cable car. The Buddha is 112 feet tall and can be seen from miles away. It was completed in 1993 and symbolizes “the harmonious relationship between man and nature, people and faith”. We took a traditional cable car up and a glass-bottom one down, for more views below. In addition to the giant Buddha, there are other temples and statues to see while there – plan for a few hours at this location, in order to take it all in.
Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery was another train ride away from the city and easily accessible. This is a mid-20th century Buddhist temple that opened in 1957. There is no admission to this attraction, but beware, this is a very steep climb in places with many steps, but if you take it slowly, it’s worth the trip.
In addition to the sites listed above, I must say that Hong Kong had some of the best food for the buck that I’ve had in a long time! In the 4 days there, we ate at a variety of restaurants and loved all of them. There is also a ridiculous amount of shopping available in Hong Kong – if that’s your thing…
Shenzhen, China
A very short ferry ride of about 20 minutes takes you from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, which is where we started our two weeks trip to China. We used this as our base for a few days, while we stayed with a friend of ours and took a couple of day trips. Shenzhen is known for its tech companies, but it also has wonderful restaurants, shopping, an open market, and lots of history.
Kaiping – UNESCO site
We took a 2-hour hair-raising public bus from Shenzhen to Kaiping. It was cheap but it was scary!! Luckily we all arrived in one piece and checked into our upscale hotel (Pan Tower International hotel) and got something to eat. In the morning, we managed to find a local driver to take us to the UNESCO site for the day. Kaiping Diaolou has only been on the UNESCO register since 2007 and covers 920 acres. The structures are fortified multistory watchtowers in rural villages, that are made from concrete, and are amazing, historical architectural artifacts. We visited this area in April and were still consumed with humidity, but still enjoyed the beauty and history of it all.
A few days later we flew from Shenzhen to Xian to see the walled city and of course, the Terracotta Warriors. I had seen the “Warriors” online and in a documentary, but to see this up close and personal is just amazing. We got a driver to take us from the city of Xian to the site of the Warriors and it was an all-day excursion. We spent that evening exploring the city and then moved on to Beijing the next day.
When I travel, I generally try to stay away from large cities, but in China, there is a lot to see and do, historically, in and around Beijing, so it was impossible to avoid this city. Just down the street from our hotel was the Forbidden City Palace and across the street from that was Tiananmen Square – just those two attractions were a day’s worth of sight-seeing.
Besides seeing the palaces, we obviously had to see the Great Wall of China while in Beijing. There are many locations to access the wall in town, but our driver told us we should start out about an hour outside of town to beat the crowds. He picked us up very early in the morning so that we would avoid some of the traffic and we would hopefully also be some of the few people at this section of the wall – which we were. This access required us to take a chair-lift up to the wall and a slide back down – both added to the allure of this destination.
Summer Palace, the Panda exhibit at the zoo and the Temple of Heaven was our next day’s trip. We were only going to spend a few minutes at the panda exhibit, but they were so darn cute and so active, that we stayed for about an hour.
While in China we managed to do and see a lot – but some of my favorite photos are not of the main attractions, but what was around the attractions – the small and simple things that a lot of people miss, so here they are…
